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Re: [TCML] primary tubing

Hi Adam,
I guess my house isn't in the "almost all" catergory then, as I just got through 
double checking mine and verifying that both of my breaker panel boxes are
tied to the meter base (which happens to be on the opposite side of the wall
from the breaker panels - so a very short run) via 1-0 or 2-0 COPPER cable.
I couldn't locate any identifying print on the short visible stretch of the insulation sleaves, so I am having to guestimate the wire guage size. Certainly big stuff, though, as just the cable (w/out the insulation) was probably the same diameter as an average adult man's pinky to ring finger range and each individual strand 
looked to be about #12 AWG ;^/

The main breaker panel is a 200 amp rated one and the additional panel,
which was added when I finished the upstairs expandable, is a 125 amp
rated panel. The 125 amp rated panel only has one bedroom and one bath-
room on it from upstairs and the rest of its overrated ampacity is pretty much 
for my "toys" in the garage. ;^) BTW, while I had the panel covers off to
check for copper vs. aluminum, I went ahead and retightened the lugs that
hold down the mains cables coming from the meter base - kinda killed two
birds with one stone. ;^|

David Rieben
----- Original Message ----- From: "Yurtle Turtle" <yurtle_t@xxxxxxxxx> 
To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, November 09, 2009 5:09 AM
Subject: Re: [TCML] primary tubing
Almost all residential houses use aluminum wire to run from the meter base to the breaker panel. That's a 200 amp circuit with nothing more than a mechanical connection and an anti oxidant grease. 

Adam

--- On Sun, 11/8/09, G Hunter <dogbrain_39560@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:


From: G Hunter <dogbrain_39560@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [TCML] primary tubing
To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sunday, November 8, 2009, 4:06 PM
> The only discrepancy I have is
that I thought Al simply
> oxidized in air, maybe you could also call it
anodization
> but I thought that was adding pigment to the outside
oxide
> layer.
>
> Drake
>

That's what I keep coming back to. What about the
Aluminum Oxide layer? Aluminum Oxide is an electrical
insulator, and it is so hard it is used as an abrasive for
sandpaper and the like. A rock-hard layer of
insulation would seem to make good electrical contact
problematic. Shining the Al with steel wool won't
help, as the oxide layer instantly forms again. Also,
the usual hardware store-grade primary terminations and taps
(alligator clips, fuse clips, ground lugs, etc.) are
typically made of copper, brass, or copper-plated
steel. Not only are they too soft to cut the oxide
layer, but contact between dissimilar metals only aggravates
the formation of a high resistance connection.

Seriously though, I wonder how much these theoretical
concerns really affect actual coil performance. I've
used solid aluminum wire as the primary for a very small
coil, and it worked fine. I suspect Al is probably OK
for the small stuff, but becomes a bigger issue as the coil
gets bigger and the kva goes up.

As far as the compactness issue of fat Al tube -vs- skinny
Cu tube, that could sidestepped by using flat aluminum
strap.

Greg



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